I had a tree service out to cut down a few trees yesterday and I am exploring possible uses for the lumber.
There are three basic options; 1-Furniture, 2-Firewood, 3-Outright sale.
The trees we had cut down were mostly Sycamore and one Ash. I've been told that Sycamore is not a great value as firewood or woodworking (furniture). The Ash is has value as both firewood and furniture. I'm not an expert woodworker but I think that it would be neat to build something out of the ash from my lot. The Ash up for discussion is about 32" in diameter at the base and 20" at the top. It is about
25' long, straight and clear.The real question is - what should I do with this thing? Specifically - my research has lead me to the following pieces of information -
Volumes & Prices
o The gross volume is about 94 cubic feet (basic math) o Equals 985 board feet of furniture (~10.5 bf per cf) (Ref 1) o Equals 1.2 cords of firewood (~80 cf / cord) (Ref 2)
1) I pay about $200 / cord for firewood. So after I cut it and split it, its worth about $240. What would the lumber be worth for someone to come pick it up?2) If I wanted to go the furniture route what do I need to do to the wood so that I can build something that won't tear itself apart at the joints? I have a decent table saw and basic woodworking tools. I'm thinking about building something simple like a book case for my office.
To accomplish this, I would need to dry it (?-how and ?-$), dimension it (?-how and ?-$) and then I could would have it to the point equivalent to buying it at a wood shop - I'm comfortable at this point!!
What do I need to do to get to that point?? What would you expect for cost??
Any advice is much appreciated and thanks in advance.
MSR
References: (1)